The Last Sacrifice
by Kalyra-Anne
Summary: History always tends to repeat itself, Tony fell for Jeanne; The enemy. Notice how Jenny's past isn't mentioned throughout the show. Maybe because in a different time, she was a different person and just like Tony, she made mistakes. Jibbs Shannon/Gibbs
1. Prologue

_**So this particular idea has been hunting me down like the plague.**_

**History always tends to repeat itself in some shape or form, Tony fell for Jeanne during the op that Jenny was running in a plot against 'The Frog' in order to a) Find out what he was up to and b) Purely because she wanted cold hard revenge. Alright, so, let's just say, hypothetically speaking of course, if that was what happened as a piece of history repeating itself... Then what in particular was the real event, the original piece of history. This story explains just that. **

**Jenny/Gibbs – Shannon/Gibbs**

**Notice how Jenny's past isn't mentioned throughout the show. Maybe because in a different time, she was a different person and just like Tony, she made mistakes. **

**AU. But please enjoy – Let me know your thoughts by either a review or a private message, and if you just put this on your alerts, I'm going to assume that you either find this slightly amusing or mildly intriguing. **

**Please Note: That this will be a Multi-Chapter Story – AND one that I intend on finishing. Spoilers of Seasons Three/Four/Five at this point in time; If it changes, I shall let you know. xx**

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><p>Sitting quite comfortably on her office chair, ankles crossed, Tony standing opposite her, not closely, if anything he looked positively uncomfortable.<p>

"You are not supposed to fall in love with them." Jenny stated insensitively and yet with a smartass attitude, a little too cruelly to be completely honest, Tony flinched ever so slightly, but she noticed. She was expecting a ruthless comment to be followed with her own words, however silence met her ears. She could detect that he was already kicking himself over what had happened, and here she was, giving him additional reasons to. Besides, it wasn't like she could boast in relation to the subject; she'd fallen in love with one of them too or so she had thought.

"I didn't mean too, Director." He said sharply, not bad in consideration, she thought.

"Well, obviously something within the process happened." She commented

"Gee, ya think." Tony muttered

"It was meant to be a quick, in and out job, Tony."

"We've been doing this operation for weeks, Jenny."

"Not the point, if you did your job correctly, we wouldn't be in this mess."

Tony looked at her, his face going rigid, "You tell me I shouldn't have done this, that it shouldn't have happened, how would have you acted any different if it were you and someone was willing to accept you as you."

His eyes shone with the pain that he felt, "Even if they were the enemy in the situation."

Jenny froze as she battled her own demons for a moment; she knew exactly what he felt, what he was going through. And he was right; she shouldn't have put him in that type of situation in the first place. She should've understood. Her facade faltered as something inside her seemed to snap.

"If you're going to take my badge, hurry up and get it over with." He continued, if she wanted him mad, well she had damn well succeeded, he was angry, but more so with himself than her.

She sighed, "I'm sorry, I know that this is hard and I shoul-"

"Do you?" his voice had raised a notch, his eyes staring at her as if she was crazy, he was livid.

"Trust me, Tony, it would have never worked, regardless of how hard you worked at it. You can only be one person; can you honestly tell me that you give up everything to be Tony DiNardo just so you could be with her?" she asked him, a small hitch in her voice.

"You wouldn't know." He said angrily, as he trembled, he was avoiding her question.

"Actually, I would, because I made the same mistake you did, I fell in love and then there's hell to pay for a consequence. Think about it, Tony, would you drop everything for her?"

He looked at her, his face tensing.

"Honestly, I don't know... I mean, I want to believe I could but in all reality... I don't know."

"Tony, the thing that you need to remember is that regardless, you have priorities and you need to figure out which ones are the most important. And the real answer is inside you, unless you are able to say with your heart set on it that you would give everything up in a second to be with her, you know that deep down it just won't work. "

"I appreciate the political chat but I have somewhere to be."

"Like hell you do." Her tone changed, he had closed off to her, and she knew that, she did it frequently, she could see the similarities, she was changing him more into Gibbs, and they were already a lot more alike than they thought.

"Go home," she continued, her tone softer, "Take some time off, have a think about what you truly want and need, and we'll talk then, okay?"

"Fine." He said gruffly as he walked out of the office quickly, shutting the door swiftly behind him.

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><p><strong>And there you have it. <strong>

**Prologue complete – Chapter One, on the way. **


	2. A Step Into The Past

**So, as you have all probably gathered, the previous chapter – the Prologue, was set in current/present time. This chapter and the next couple however are set in the **_**PAST... **_**Late Season Three Spoilers are contained in this chapter. Specifically on episodes, Hiatus – Parts 1 and 2. **

**Enjoy and Review... Pretty please?**

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><p>Dinner at the White House, personally, she'd expected it to be better. Yet all it was was a cock fight, politicians, semantics, all that sort of Jazz. Dinner wasn't too bad, quite pleasant actually.<p>

If only, the company was better, minus Condi, which was probably the best company she'd have at these shin digs.

The shrill ringtone of her Blackberry burst through the talkative air, thankfully majority of people were already too preoccupied to take notice or show any interest.

Caller ID said DiNozzo.

"This better be good DiNozzo." She answered

"It's Gibbs; he's being transported to Portsmouth, Trauma One." He said quickly

Jenny was speechless, _Oh God_, she thought.

"There was an explosion..." He began to explain but she'd already hung up on him.

_Jethro, hold on. Please, honey._

"Condi, I need to get to Portsmouth, Jethro's in Trauma One." She said but her voice was shaky and Condi nodded, understanding, they'd been old friends for years.

_Please, Jethro, please be okay._

Apologising briefly to the President and surrounding colleagues, before she raced out of the building with her security detail, almost forgetting her red silk scarf.

_I'm coming, Jethro._

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><p>She walked down the hallway, death gripping her red clutch, her matching heels clicking on the surface, she approached the reception area.<p>

_Jethro, you need to be okay._

"Conditions on Special Agent Jethro Gibbs." She requested, as she handed over her Director NCIS Identification, her tone quite formal.

The Nurse took it and opened it up, examining it. She looked back at Jenny before typing in his surname on the database.

"Trauma One, No condition listed yet." She began to explain; as soon as Jenny heard the first two words she walked away and tried going through the Trauma One doors that said _Emergency, Authorised Personnel Only._

The door didn't budge.

Jenny felt like her heart was being ripped out, frustrated, angry. She needed to see him, no excuses.

"You can't go in there, Director, it's restricted," The nurse said, "To medical personnel."

Jenny huffed.

She turned around and walked back to the reception desk, an unhappy look on her face, "This isn't about turf, you know." She stated clearly, she just needed to know that he was okay.

"Oh, I know that." Said the nurse smartly

"Okay." Jenny muttered, maybe she could reason with this woman.

The woman opposite her stood up, "It's about rules," she retorted, looking at Jenny she continued with courage, "And one really big one is, non medical cannot enter Trauma One unless they're carried in."

Oh, you want to play that game with me, Jenny thought, big mistake.

"Get me a gurney." She said seriously.

The nurse chuckled in amusement, "That's good. Get me a gurney." As she laughed, "I like that."

"I left a dinner at the White House to come here." Jenny admitted, her voice low, hoping the nurse would be sympathetic.

"I'm impressed," she said, Jenny nodded, "Really I am. But that still doesn't change the rules."

"I was hoping that I didn't have to resort to this." Jenny said, knowing full well that she'd won, and she opened her clutch and grabbed her blackberry.

"Shooting your way in?" questioned the nurse

"Don't be silly," Jenny said, faking her own amusement, "I don't have my weapon." She continued as she showed how she really felt; pissed off and she accompanied it with an ice cold glare. She looked at her phone and went into speed dial.

"Calling the President." The Nurse joked

"Now that would be overkill." She said seriously as the other person on the phone answered.

"Condi? Jenny." Said Jenny loudly and the nurses' smirk disappeared instantly.

"Are you in?" Condi asked

"No, I don't have his condition yet."

"Well, why the hell not?"

"The head nurse won't let me into Trauma." Said Jenny

"Let me talk to her." Condi demanded, Jenny handed over the phone to the nurse and raised her eyebrows, in a way that said 'Top that.'

The nurse took the phone and held it to her ear, following instructions. "I understand Ma'am." She said before handing the phone back to Jenny.

"Thank you, Condi." She said before hanging up and she raced to the doors of Trauma One, which this time, opened.

She almost ran inside, unable to contain her emotions any longer.

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><p>"I wanna celebrate and live my life." Shouted a young brunette to her favourite song this week, as she kicked back her first drink of the night, orange juice mixed with vodka, something strong enough to take the edge off but weak enough to let her drive home tonight.<p>

She scampered off to the dance floor as she found her group of friends that were already dancing, absorbed with the music.

"We gonna rock this club!" She shouted again, getting caught up in the music as she danced; moving her hips, hands in the air, smile on her lips.

It wasn't an unusual occurrence that she'd be out clubbing; it was something that had now became more of a necessity... Now with her job at NCIS, she was studying law and doing work at the Navy Yard, it was now looked at as something to take the edge off.

Before she knew it, the song was over and another one pumped itself through the speakers, normally, she wouldn't care and she'd just keep dancing but the vibrating off her phone was alerting her to a call.

She raced to the bathroom and answered it. "Hello?"

"Honey, it's me. You need to get to Portsmouth Trauma One immediately. It's Jethro, he was in an explosion." Said the person on the other line, she hung up the phone as soon as she could, not even replying to the caller.

It felt like the world was spinning. _No, it can't be. Please, God, not him._

She ran out of the club and to her car, speeding so much that she would definitely be getting a fine, but she didn't care.

Not one bit.

She just needed to get to the hospital as soon as she possibly could, it didn't matter about the consequences.

It almost seemed like a minute or two after Jenny entered Trauma One, a familiar person was lurking in the shadows, following her. Her eyes raw from crying, the redhead took the younger woman into her arms and planted a kiss on her brunette hair.

"It'll be okay, Kylie. Have faith, honey." Jenny said as she let go of the younger woman

"It won't be okay, Jenny, it's not okay." She said loudly, then in a hush toned voice so that no one would hear her, she continued, "This is Gibbs, we're talking about. He can't be hurt, he can't be. It's not fair!"

"I know, it isn't, but we don't even know what's going on yet. We need to speak to a doctor." Advised Jenny

_You need to tell him, he needs to know. _Kylie felt like telling Jenny, she had to live in secret, she didn't want to anymore.

"Excuse me," she asked the nearest Doctor, "Could you please update me on Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, I'm Director Jenny Shepard, NCIS and this is Kylie Shepard, my baby sister." She lied easily.

At least her daughter was dressed up enough to make it look like they had gotten the call when they were together; Kylie was wearing a black dress.

"Doctor Jenkins, please come with me." He instructed them as they began walking through the long corridors

"He's suffered a concussion, but there are no signs of intra-cerebral haemorrhaging." The Doctor explained

"He's going to be okay though, right?" Kylie asked, even thought it really was more of a statement than a question

"Uh, he should be fine." He replied, honestly to the best of his knowledge

"I don't wanna hear should be, I wanna hear will be." Kylie snapped as they came to a room, Jenny looked in through the window and her heart felt like it was breaking into small shavings of glass

"Kylie." Jenny warned

"Should be is not positive." She snapped again

"Enough, Kylie." Jenny said, pleading her almost to stop, Jenny turned back to the window and watched, Kylie joined her silently and looked through the window

"I'm always positive, Ms. Shepard. But with a concussion, until... Until he wakes, no one knows what's going on inside his brain." The Doctor tried to calm her down

Jenny and Kylie both looked through the window and neither of them wanted to leave.

The only thing they wanted to do was cry, but being the strong willed women they were, they kept the tears at bay.

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><p>She stayed at the hospital all night last night, praying for some form of a miracle. She'd changed into a suit; Kylie had left earlier that morning as she had to go to work.<p>

Even though she worked at NCIS, it was more of an order by Jenny. She could see the pain in her daughter's eyes, so she had sent her back, in some hope that she would do what she always did, do what was _needed in the moment_ and _dwell _on it later.

Jenny supposed that Kylie learnt that from both of her parents.

To say that the situation was complicated was putting it lightly.

All she wanted to do was ask for forgiveness and tell him the truth, but he was in a coma, there had been no change in his condition, he was stable, he was alive at least.

It was safe enough to tell him, but she couldn't bring herself to do it, it could be a secret between them but then she'd be breaking one of his famous rules.

_The best way to keep a secret, keep it to yourself, if you must, tell one other person._

She had watched over him all night, her security detail would do coffee runs for her and brought her some breakfast, she'd had no shut eye, but nothing changed, except the intensifying feeling in her gut of something not quite right, or perhaps that could have just been the _guilt. _

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><p>Her mother was going to kill her.<p>

Kylie knew that, but that wasn't the point. She was at her mother's townhouse in Georgetown, instead of at work; she'd called in sick and called in a couple of favours that she'd been owed.

She had just unlocked the door and locked it behind her, she went upstairs and to a hidden room that only two people knew about.

It was the attic, even though it just looked like a storage cupboard, there was a secret entrance into a sound proof room.

Kylie gained entry, hit the light switch and there was her most beloved object, the one thing that reminded her of her childhood.

A piano, but in this case, it was a keyboard, purely based on the fact that they couldn't fit a grand piano up here.

Nevertheless, she sat down and turned the contraption on.

Savouring the moment of silence as she began playing freely, not caring what notes she hit.

And for the first time in thirteen years, she cried.

She cried uncontrollably.

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><p><strong>Let me know what you think. :) Xx<strong>


	3. Hospitals, Coffee and The Past

**Well, my muse has decided to be an extremely cheeky little thing by going on vacation without any notice, she was meant to be back by now and I can't seem to find her. Maybe you can spot her here somewhere?**

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><p>The beeping noise of the ventilator machine became silence now as her ears became accustomed to it and she briefly wondered if that was what it was like when she got out of the car crash.<p>

Her phone rang through the piercing silence and she answered it immediately, as if not to disturb him.

"Shepard." Her tone ice cold as she looked out of the window of his room to the sight of dreadful weather and rain soaking everything in sight.

"Yikes. Agent DiNozzo here." replied Tony, surprised at her tone at first but then did not hesitate to continue, "Cynthia, told me you stayed at the hospital. Is the boss awake?"

"I am, Agent DiNozzo." She answered him harshly, tilting her head downwards briefly, contemplating where to lead the conversation. "You have a sit-rep for me?" she asked him although it was more of a statement, why else would he be calling her? Her tone softened with each word she spoke.

"I do, Director Shepard." He said formally, following it through, "Crime scene's been processed. Evidence tagged. Remains are on the way to autopsy; Officer David and Special Agent McGee are questioning the crew. We have an ID on the suspected bomber."

She turned slightly to watch over Gibbs.

"The freighter's radioman Pinpin Pula. Filipino. Suspected to be Aby Sayyaf. BOLO's been issued for his apprehension. That is all I have to report Ma'am." Finished Tony

Resting against the wall and looking at Gibbs as she addressed Tony. "Agent DiNozzo."

"Director?"

"I was out of line." She admitted, she just wasn't in the right frame of mind, things had made a very giant leap into the pool of complication in quite a short amount of time.

"You are the Director, Ma'am, you cannot be out of line." He told her

"Please. I was bitchy. Let me apologise. I'm sorry." She knew that even though it was one of Gibbs' rules, it wasn't one of hers; hers was different because in all reality, she knew that it took strength to apologise and to admit when you're wrong.

"If I may state an opinion, Ma'am?" he requested

"Fire away." She said instantly

"Never apologise. It's a –" he began

"Sign of weakness." They finished together, Jenny smiled; Jethro always did listen to her in the past, before she became Jennifer Katherine Shepard.

"I was his partner too, DiNozzo." In more ways than one, she thought, "I know all the Gibbs-isms."

"Actually, he borrowed that one from the Duke." Tony informed her

"John Wayne." She recalled

"Said it to Joanne Dru in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon."

"Jethro's a lot like the Duke." She told Tony, remembering what he used to be like before

"I keep waiting for him to say, that'll be the day." He said trying his best to impersonate the Duke

"He said that to me once in Paris when I told him that I –" She stopped there straight away, she was over sharing way too much, even though it brought a small smile upon her lips, a dull reminder of happiness.

Silence filled the other end as Tony waited for her to complete that sentence.

"When we were working together." She explained effectively ending that topic conversation of awkward small talk.

"Shouldn't he be awake by now?" he asked

"You know Gibbs, he keeps his own schedule." She said amused, some things wouldn't change.

"Do you know what REM is?" she asked him as she gazed at his face

"Sure, rapid eye movement, happens when you're asleep and dreaming." He replied

"That's what it looks like he's doing right now."

"Oh, well that's gotta be a good sign, right?" he said, his tone happier than the beginning of this conversation

"If it isn't a nightmare." She said sadly as they ended the conversation.

She was worried about Kylie so she decided to give her a call, just to check in and make sure everything was okay, she didn't answer all three times she'd called.

Maybe Jenny was the one in a nightmare, except the downfall was that she couldn't wake up.

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><p>Another few coffee's later and a chicken sandwich later and Tony came to the hospital and stood next to her, both of them watching Gibbs like a hawk.<p>

There were three medical personnel in the room with them, phone in her hand.

"Coffee." Said Tony suddenly

Jenny looked at him puzzled, "Coffee?"

"Sure way to wake Gibbs." He said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world

"Good idea." She agreed, "But he's intubated, we'll have to use the IV."

"Ah." Said Tony as they both shared a knowing smile

"Uh, tell Miss Shepard that I didn't abandon Gibbs. Chief neurologist would have been here today, anyway." The same doctor from last night said to Jenny, ignoring Tony's confused expression

"I'm sure she'll understand. Kylie's not the type to hold a grudge forever." Said Jenny

"I hope so. I like women with fire." Said the doctor before leaving

"Kylie Shepard?" asked Tony

"Sister." Explained Jenny shortly

"DiNozzo, does he look in pain?" she asked him, she'd been trying to decipher it all morning

"I don't know. I've never seen Gibbs show pain, Director." He replied honestly

Not satisfied, she took a step forward.

"Doctor, is he in pain?" she asked, when he didn't respond she tried again, "Doctor?"

He turned around, "Was this man a marine?" he asked her

"Yes."

"Wounded in Desert Storm?" he asked for confirmation

_Wounded? Jethro, I'm so sorry. Why wasn't I there? I should have been._

"He has a purple heart." She said instead of voicing her real reaction

"That's it." The Doctor pieced together, "I treated him in Kuwait."

Jenny's heart constricted.

"Gibbs never told me he was wounded in Desert Storm." Said Tony

"Me neither, I saw his purple heart." She said just to make Tony feel a little better and less out of the loop.

"He was in a coma when we evacuated him to Frankfurt. I mean, you talk about déjà vu." Said the Doctor, still not believing it

"But is he in pain?" Jenny persisted

"Certainly not extreme pain, he may be hurting but the only way for us to know is for him to tell us." He advised her

"Why not give him painkillers just in case?" asked Tony, Jenny agreed with him

"I want him to wake up, an opiate would only deepen his coma." Explained the Doctor

"I've just never seen Jethro look like this." Said Jenny, wanting to cry now, more than ever, not caring whether or not Tony was in the room

"I have. That's why I remembered him. That's the expression he had in '91. It's more anguish than pain."

_Oh, Kelly. What did we do?_

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><p>Even though the tears had subsided, the pain had not.<p>

She'd cried herself to the point of exhaustion and now she slept peacefully, dreaming of her own memories and what she'd missed out on.

_It was summertime on the beach, they all went out riding horses and had a picnic lunch before going for a swim on the beach. _

_She loved galloping with her horse instead of trotting slowly alongside her parents. The thrill excited her, besides it wasn't as if she didn't know what she was doing. _

"_Please?" she begged her mom, her blue eyes sparkling_

"_No, Kelly." Said Shannon, giggling at a previous joke said by her husband_

"_Ah, let her go, Shannon." Said Jethro, he trusted her and Kelly raced away when she heard her mom laugh and call her dad's name. _

_She didn't go far, she never did but then when she turned around all she saw was her mom's blood over the car seats and she looked seriously hurt. Kelly wasn't hurt, she tried asking the driver for help but soon realised that he was dead. _

_She pulled the handbrake just before the car hit a pole, the car was stopped for now, "Kelly." She heard a raspy voice say_

"_Mom?" she said panicked, what was happening?_

_Her mom grabbed a phone, and pressed a button, calling someone perhaps? _

_The other person on the line must have answered because there was a brief conversation before her mom passed out. _

_Kelly couldn't tell what was happening now, she was being pulled from the car and her mother was gone, two bodies were put in the car and she was being driven off to a large building, she assumed it was a hospital with her uncle from her mother's side, Matt. _

"_Kelly," He started, "Are you okay?"_

"_I'm fine, where's mom?" _

"_She's okay for now kiddo, but there's some things that you need to know." He said, "I'm not really your uncle, my name is Matthew Hughes, I'm a Metro Police Officer, and I was your mom's boss, before she resigned."_

"_What are you talking about?" she asked in fear_

"_There's a group of bad guys that are after your mom, they don't know you exist yet. But for safety, we are placing you in the witness protection program as well as your mom." He explained_

"_But what about my dad?" she asked him_

"_He can't know anything, he didn't know that your mom was a cop, it's a very complicated situation. I'm taking you to a safe house and then in a few days I'll bring your mom. Everything's going to be fine; you just need to be brave. Do you think you can do that for me?" _

"_Does that mean I can't see my dad ever again?" her eyes were teary_

"_Your mom will be able to explain everything in a lot more detail but at this stage, yes, you won't be able to see him again until it's safe."_

"Daddy!" Kylie screamed as she was jolted awake, sweat covered her forehead and she was inhaling sharp intakes of oxygen as she took in her surroundings

She was okay physically, but emotionally, it was downhill.

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><p>It was like time was passing so quickly, she was in the hospital staff lunchroom with Doctor Geffland, the Doctor from earlier that treated Jethro in Kuwait.<p>

Yet, another coffee in hand, she had to do what she had to just to get through this.

"I ordered another CAT scan on the off chance that he haemorrhaged since the last one. I think it's unlikely." He said

"So why are you doing it?" she asked

"Covering my ass." He replied as they walked through the room, he grabbed a sandwich, an apple and a hot pastry of some sort

"You don't strike me as the ass covering type, Doctor." She said amused

They walked over to a set of tables.

"You know, I dislike this doctor-captain-director formality. I'm Todd." He said

_Shannon._

"Jenny."

"The truth is, Jenny, I'm puzzled. Gibbs took a long time to come out of the coma in '91."

"You followed his case after he left Kuwait?"

"Not until today, from Frankfurt, he was air-vac'd to Bethesda. They faxed me his hospitalization records. He was in a coma for 19 days."

"My God." She said

"That's not terribly unusual. But the tests weren't typical of someone who was in a coma that deep. I mean his CAT scan didn't reveal any cerebral damage, his EEG was normal. It's the same as now." He told her

"How do you explain that?" She wanted to know, she needed every amount of information that she could get.

"Sometimes patients don't seem to want to wake up. Any reason why Gibbs might be one of them?"

_Because I became Jenny instead of being Shannon and he thinks she's dead as well as Kelly, our daughter._

He was met with silence.

* * *

><p>She was frantically looking around the attic for some sort of clues that she could send Gibbs for when he got out of the coma.<p>

If her mother wouldn't let him know, she would.

He needed to know, she needed her father.

She missed her old life in a big house with her parents and the simplicity of life, no hiding and no running.

She found a large box in the corner of the room, it looked heavy however it was labelled.

**Shannon, Jethro, Kelly Gibbs. **

She decided to have a peep inside and was shocked to find videos, photo albums and even trinkets and jewellery and much more.

It would take too long to search the entire box, she was hungry and her stomach rumbling was not helping, she left her mother's town house and went back to her apartment, in hope that maybe, just maybe her dad may have woken up.

* * *

><p>"I don't have an answer, His EEG is normal, his new CAT scan is normal. How well do you know Gibbs?" said Todd<p>

_He was my husband and the love of my life, before I screwed it up._

"He was my mentor at NCIS, he taught me most of what I know." She came up with

"Yet, you're his boss." He observed

"Jethro's a great field agent and he's a great team leader, he even deals more efficiently with difficult politicians than I do." She explained

Noting the puzzled look on his face, "Then why isn't he...?"

"He shoots them." She added

They walked back into his room, nothing had changed, Jethro was still out cold, but she couldn't wait 19 days to know that he was okay.

"So you didn't know him when he was wounded in Desert Storm?" he asked

_Yes, I did._

"No." She answered him

"He seems to be repeating that trauma, a coma he doesn't want to wake up from. In the morning I'm gonna try to find the neurologist who was on his case in '91."

"Well, why wait until the morning?" her Director side showing through, then with realisation that she was in a hospital and not the navy yard. "Forgive me."

"Yeah." He muttered

"I'm just tired." She said lamely

"I can arrange a cot for you in this room."

"No, I've been away from my office far too long." She said finally

She walked over to Jethro, by his side, and placed a hand over his, before grabbing her bag and coat and leaving the room with Todd.

"I'll find someone who knew Jethro back then." She said, besides me, she thought afterwards

"That'd be helpful." Agreed Todd

"Here are all my numbers and my cell." She said as she handed him a card with her handwriting on it

"I'll call you with an update at 0900, earlier, if he shows any signs of waking up." He said

She nodded; it was the best she was going to get, regardless.

"It was good to meet you, Jenny. Not under the circumstances of course but good nevertheless." He said as they shook hands

She said nothing and walked away and through the exit doors.

Now Jethro's Doctor likes me, great, she thought sarcastically.

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><p><strong>Slightly longer than the last one, not as long as I had originally planned but this is finally getting on the path to where I want it to be. Hope you liked. <strong>

**THANK-YOU TO REVIEWERS! As FF authors, you know how good it feels to get a review, and how it feels not to get a review, so why not share the love yeah? Xx**

**As to actually replying to reviews, I haven't been able to, the link to reply is expired or something? But I do appreciate all of them! :)  
><strong>


	4. Phone Calls and The Present

**AN - And we are now back to present time after a whirlwind of necessary past events with the previous chapters. Now we are finally back on track with the story, things in this chapter get moving quite quickly. So buckle up those seat belts and get ready for the ride!**

**Enjoy :)  
><strong>

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><p>A loud slam of her office door brought her out of her thoughts.<p>

It almost made her jump, _almost._

The door itself had flung back into the wall, resonating in a loud crash.

She half expected it to be Gibbs, but she knew better, only one person would be _that_ angry and wouldn't be afraid to show it, other than Gibbs.

He at least knew the limits.

Dark chocolate strands of hair covered the porcelain skin of her face, complementing her cobalt blue eyes.

She slammed the door as soon as she had walked into the office.

Completely ignoring the pointless protests of Cynthia, Jenny waved her hand in the air to signal that it was fine whilst she mentally braced herself as there would be no calm waters today, only the storm.

"Do you have any idea what day today is!" the woman opposite Jenny was practically screaming, she was beyond pissed off or angry

Jenny sat calmly behind her desk, "I know exactly what day it is, and it's a Monday, for your information."

The woman rolled her eyes and scoffed, "Don't play cute with me, Mother." She said in a low tone

"Oh, no more formalities?" asked Jenny, two could play that game

Bitchy, after all, was their specialty.

"I don't even know who you are anymore." The girl bit back

"The feelings mutual." Jenny muttered

"Do you just not care anymore? Now that he's met someone else, you've just given up!" she taunted

"That's enough." Said Jenny evenly

"No, that's not enough! For God's sake, you two are still married!" her voice grew louder

However, she was met with a second of silence.

A moment of importance...

Yeah, that was it.

Something inside Jenny just seemed to snap, like an icicle, it shattered to the ground.

She stood up from her calm and collected position.

"Kelly Marie Gibbs, I said that was enough!" Jenny shouted

Now that got her attention.

She was stunned; nobody had called her that in years.

Kelly had changed her name to Kylie a long time ago.

She couldn't believe that her mother had just called her that and immediately Kelly felt terrible.

"Mom, I'm sorry." She said as she saw the look of pain flash across her mother's face

Well, at least she hadn't forgotten what day it was today.

It was the anniversary of their supposed deaths.

* * *

><p>Kylie was back in the attic, searching through the boxes that held so many memories of her past.<p>

She kind of felt like the Princess Anastasia from the animated film, aside from the fact that she could actually remember her past.

It was still good to reminisce.

She accidentally dropped a large book with a loud thud; it looked to be a diary of some sorts.

Curiosity had gotten the better of her, so she decided to skim read and flick through it.

However, something caught her eye and she couldn't help but smile at this.

_Rule one, _written in that perfect cursive writing that may as well pass as calligraphy, a skill that Kylie had never been able to pick up as perfectly as her mother.

_Never date a lumberjack. _

She could remember her mother repeating this over and over again, until it had finally stuck.

You know what they say, old habits die hard.

Although, they can always learn new tricks to hide up the sleeve.

Kylie smiled as she was thrown into a memory of her childhood.

* * *

><p>Jenny flicked off the lights in her office as she exited the room with her briefcase and an umbrella; her coat was securely fastened around her, a small attempt to keep warm and dry from the harsh cold weather that had formed that afternoon.<p>

It had been a long day as well as eventful and emotional.

Cynthia, her trusty and organised assistant had already left to go home for the night, four hours ago.

She locked the door with her key before walking outside of Cynthia's office and locking that too, she had grown increasingly paranoid after an unplanned encounter with someone whom she thought was dead.

She didn't know whom to trust anymore and it terrified her.

She walked down the catwalk, a few scattered agents were in the Squad room, and most of them had caught cases and were trying to catch the dirt bags as soon as possible.

She smiled, she had the agency to her liking now or to what could be called, running smoothly, and that of course was only when Gibbs didn't ruin these plans.

She walked down the stairs and noted that Tony was typing furiously on his keyboard and his facial expression was in a deep state of concentration. This puzzled her, they had no active cases, and she knew that as a fact, she was after all, the man in charge so to speak.

And Tony was always eager to get out of the building first.

Ziva, McGee and Gibbs were all not present to witness this however.

She tried to get a closer look at his screen but his head was in the way and she couldn't fully see what he was looking up or doing but she could see the mild blur of red, the exact colour of her hair on the screen and then it was gone, replaced with an empty black screen.

A ding of the elevator alerted the room to the presence of someone, she made her way down the stairs a little quicker, before anyone noticed what she was doing, she rounded the corner and she heard the main printer start up and she made the decision to gather all the documents because she noticed that Tony had just gotten up.

But she beat him to the printer and stood in his path.

"Evening, Agent DiNozzo."

"Ma'am." He stated mutually, trying to get to the printer.

She cut him off, "In a rush?"

"You could say that." He replied

"Have you made your decision?" she questioned him

"Would I be here if I hadn't?" he retorted

_Touché._

"Cold case?" she asked lightly, maybe he'd gotten a useful lead, _maybe._

"Yeah, just going through the old files to see if I can generate any leads, and see what the last agent was up to. Gibbs' orders." He explained

She nodded, "Good luck with that, tell him I expect a briefing in the morning. Have a good night, DiNozzo. We'll see you in a week." She said before she departed with the stashed papers safely in her briefcase.

"Night, Director." He said as he walked over to the printer, it was only when he heard the elevator doors close that he realised that his papers that he had printed, and he knew he had printed them, he had heard the printer print them himself.

But more to the point they were missing, just simply gone.

He swore under his breath.

Pulling his phone out from his jeans pocket, he dialed the one number that he was dreading.

"Yeah?" Was the gruff answer on the other end of the line

"We have a problem." Said Tony in a small rush

* * *

><p>On the other side of town, Jenny rolled her neck in a circle, one way and then the other way.<p>

Wincing when she heard the amount of cracks that followed suit after releasing some of the tension that was stored there, she needed to get a massage, and soon.

Curiosity was an understatement, now she was just snooping.

She poured herself a glass of bourbon, as per her nightly ritual.

She opened her briefcase with the files that she'd stolen from Tony, making sure that her Study door was closed and that the blinds behind the desk were drawn prior.

Carefully, she sifted through them.

Some were photographs that had been blown up and others were old reports, in a stake out layout form.

She looked at the first photograph that had been printed since it was a colour printer, it was easy to see.

But what she saw on the paper was the last thing she wanted to see.

It was _her._

A much younger one at that but nevertheless, it was her just before the surgery and the crash.

She recognised her surroundings all too easily, Kelly would have been at least two, and she remembered that day clearly.

She couldn't believe it.

What the hell was DiNozzo doing with these?

How did he find them was probably the better question.

She thought back to his excuse.

_Always be specific when you lie._

This was going on to be horrific.

He couldn't find out the past.

She wouldn't let him, despite the costs.

* * *

><p>Today was not a fantastic day, in fact, it was the opposite.<p>

It was only on this day where he really did falter to find some form of solace.

So many years had passed him by and he was beginning to question himself.

Normally, like any other night, he would simply drown his sorrows and more accurately his emotions in his beloved bourbon.

But, this was no ordinary night.

And, to be completely honest, he was never stone cold hearted to begin with.

He sighed; it was times like these when he needed something a little stronger than bourbon.

It was times like these when he just missed his old family and he wished that by some miracle that they had survived, because if they had, then everything would have been okay.

He would have had the chance to be the loving husband and father that was always there for his family, with a dog and perhaps a white picket fence.

Hell, he could have had a second child with Shannon.

God, how he missed them both, so much, it was hard to even begin to describe how much he wanted them just to be safe and alive.

He had sworn that he heard Shannon shout Kelly's name when he was about to go and see Jenny earlier on.

But was it all in his head?

He didn't know, so he just walked back to the elevator as Cynthia had claimed that Jenny was busy.

He hadn't been able to face Jenny after that; they were so similar in some ways and utterly different in others.

Regardless, of how he felt in regards to the whole DiNozzo situation, that could wait till at least tomorrow.

Today was just not the day for him.

He raked his brain over and over until he had successfully gained a headache.

Great, he thought, that was the last thing he needed right now.

His door bell rang, that was odd to say the least.

Grabbing his gun and bringing his foul mood with him, he made his way upstairs and to the front door where no one was waiting but there was a package on the doorstep, some sort of book.

He looked around his surroundings briefly, he'd open the package later, and it wasn't an urgent matter, right?

He didn't see anybody, the night was pretty still.

He eyed the package suspiciously, deciding to open it, only after he'd put on a pair of latex gloves.

It was wrapped in plain brown paper, no card, no note.

He'd have Abby run the prints for it tomorrow, just in case.

He opened it slowly, a framed picture of Kelly, Shannon and himself in the backyard with red lipstick drawn all over it.

The harsh red letters stood out the most.

**WHY?**

His phone rang, and at that moment he didn't care how gruff his voice sounded at all.

"Yeah?" he answered it

Not caring at all whom was on the other end.

"Daddy?" said an eight year old voice but he'd recognise that voice anytime and anywhere.

His blood ran cold.

The line went dead.

_Kelly_

* * *

><p><strong>AN - And there we have it... Please review! Thank-you :) Xx<strong>_  
><em>


	5. Fingerprints, Team Love and The Present

**AN: So, I know I am a terrible updater and no matter how much I try to put the effort in, things just seem to not change. In saying that though, I have already started on the next chapter and I have a more specific idea of where I am going to go with this story. If you have any idea's at all, please share...**

**We don't get to see any Jenny or Kylie (Shannon/Kelly) in this Chapter but Gibbs makes an interesting discovery.**

**Please let me know what you think in a review as I would love to hear your thoughts, thank-you and enjoy! :)**** xx**

* * *

><p>The elevator dinged open revealing Ziva and McGee.<p>

"It was a simple question, McGee." Said Ziva as the pair walked out of the elevator and into the Squad Room.

"Yeah, one that I expected from Tony, not you." He replied, clearly embarrassed at something that was nagging his mind, perhaps a previous not-so-great experience.

"I'm just being curious." She explained as they walked to their area

"About when I lost my virginity." He said low

"Now you misunderstood, I'm not asking when you lost your virginity but if you lost it." She explained, lifting her index finger up.

They came to the middle of their team area, each of them going to their own desk.

Ziva turned around and look across from her to see Tony working hard away at his desk.

"What's wrong with this picture?" she asked aloud to anyone willing to answer

"You mean beside Tony being here before us and actually working?" McGee questioned

"I can actually hear you, you know." Tony said, not lifting his head

McGee sat down at his desk, without another word being said but Ziva was not satisfied.

Looking at her partner, she decided to intervene.

Walking to the front of his desk, he finally lifted his eyesight when he decided that no time soon she was moving.

He raised his eyebrows at her.

"I am here if you'd like to talk." She put the effort forward

"About what?" he asked confused

"I know how you cared about her." She offered

"I'm fine, Ziva." He cut her off, wanting to silence the topic, that was something that he did not want to go into today,

"Alright, I just thought you may need a little cheering up." She seemed to let it go of which he was thankful

"If I needed cheering up, I would have put super glue on McGee's keyboard." Answered Tony

Not noticing that McGee had stood up from his desk.

"Hey, you put super glue on my keyboard." McGee accused him, lifting up the piece of equipment that was now stuck to his fingertips.

Both of the other agents looked at him and then back at each other.

"Well..." smiled Tony, "You got me, I've been saving that one for a rainy day."

"Did it help?" she asked, raising an eyebrow

"Well it didn't hurt." Replied Tony as he looked back over at McGee, a small smile gracing his lips.

McGee put the keyboard on his desk, lifting his foot and placing it on the keyboard to act as some form of leverage to pull his fingers from the board.

It wasn't working, not to mention that the method was slightly painful.

McGee let out a frustrated groan as Gibbs walked through to his desk, a large cup of coffee in his hand.

He had not slept that night, at all.

"Boss, Tony -" started McGee but Gibbs cut him off annoyed

"I know."

Reaching into his desk for a bottle of acetone, he threw it at McGee and McGee had to bring the keyboard to his face to avoid the object.

"Are you ever gonna learn, McGee." Said Gibbs as he walked away in a huff and he headed upstairs to the Director's office.

All of the agents looked at each other.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Tony confused, after all, he had not let anything slip.

At least not yet.

* * *

><p>"She in?" Gibbs asked Cynthia as he went to open the doors to the Director's office.<p>

"No." She answered quickly which stopped him dead in his tracks, turning around to face her, he held his hands up in the air; his silent way of asking her where the hell Jenny was.

"She's not here yet." Cynthia said slowly

"What do you mean, she's not here yet?" he asked even more frustrated than he was when he originally jumped up the stairs.

"As in, exactly that." Replied Cynthia, the ring of her cell phone interrupted them

Answering it straight away.

"Hello?" greeted Cynthia

"Cynthia, it's me. I'm not feeling well, reschedule everything for tomorrow. I'll see you then." Said Jenny before Cynthia could say a word, she then hung up the phone on the assistant.

"Director?" Cynthia asked, Gibbs staring at her strangely, awaiting the explanation

"She called in sick." She explained, Gibbs' eyes widen slightly.

She never called in sick, _ever._

Something was wrong, but he could not focus on that now, he had his own problems to worry about.

Taking another sip from his coffee, he turned on his heel and walked to the nearest elevator, to go to Abby's lab to see if she had made any progress.

He stepped in the elevator and pushed the relevant button, the doors closed behind him, leaving him alone to gather his thoughts.

Today was not what he had expected at all.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Flashback...<em>**

_Abby turned around with a salute, ready for work._

_"Thanks for coming in on such short notice, Abs." Said Gibbs as he walked into the lab, a bag full of evidence in his hand, walking over to the table. _

_"Neither rain, nor snow, or sleep or hail, will keep this scientist from her appointed grounds." Said Abby with a smile_

_Reaching inside the bag, he placed the photo frame and the wrapping on the table, each of them wrapped in separate plastic and evidence bags, including the gloves that he had used._

_"I wanna know whose fingerprints are on these." He said without any other detail_

_Abby clicked a pen from the middle of no-where; Gibbs followed the sound with his eyes, already knowing what Abby planned to do._

_"Chain of evidence is not important." He stated as Abby looked at him strangely_

_"Not a word about this to anyone, Abby." He said as he walked out the door, leaving a baffled Abby alone. _

* * *

><p>He walked into the lab quickly; Abby had passed out on the floor and was sleeping.<p>

Her computer was beeping quietly and what he saw shocked him.

There were two positive matches.

An alias, he decided.

But what shocked him even more was that one of the matches was his daughter Kelly and a much older looking version of her but with a different name.

Kylie Shepard.

What the hell?

Jenny?

Abby groaned, she was waking up.

He quickly went closer to the computer and cancelled the AFIS Search; he would look more into this later.

Abby was up in a second, gathering herself together.

"Oh my God, Gibbs." She said all at once

"Thanks Abs, for staying all night." He said as he made a move to walk out the door.

Her voice stopped him, "Did we get a match?"

He turned around, what could he say? Even his brain wasn't registering it.

"No." He said as he walked out the door in long strides.

Abby sighed, "Poor guys, working all night."

She moved to her beeping computer which had an icon on it that confused her to no end.

**ERASE SEARCH RESULT?**

Flashed on the screen.

"What search result?" Abby asked herself, now she truly was confused

She clicked the **NO **option as her curiosity really was getting the best of her.

The Results brought themselves on the screen.

"Oh my God!" Abby gasped as her eyes practically popped out of her head.

Gibbs had lied to her and tried to hide the evidence.

But not only that, she knew about his family and Kelly was meant to be dead, so who was Kylie?

And why did she have the same last name as the Director?

"This is not good." She said finally after having her internal mind war.

* * *

><p>On the way back to the Squad Room his phone rang, picking it up and flipping it open, answering it.<p>

"Gibbs."

A few moments passed before he sighed, closing the phone and sliding it back into his pocket.

Out of all the times to catch a case...

It had to be now.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So what did you think? I want to incoporate the team a lot more, so I hope you don't mind :) Review? x<strong>


	6. Operation Lodestone & Secret Identities

**AN: Thanks so much for all the fabulous feedback on the last chapter, I hope that you guys like this next instalment! If you have any ideas, please let me know, I would love to hear them! :)  
><strong>

**Review? x**

* * *

><p>It was cold.<p>

Freezing to be precise but there was no snow or drizzle, at least not yet.

Another body, another case, it was another day at work.

This was getting ridiculous, he had sent everybody home early yesterday which had surprised his team, and they had all given him strange looks but said nothing.

But to be completely honest, they didn't have a major case, that and he couldn't stand to be in the building any longer.

He was currently driving his car to work, he'd gotten the call a few minutes ago and was heading to NCIS, and he had called the team.

It was early; he'd give them credit for that.

But if they were late, they'd be hell to pay.

He was not in a good mood at all; it was far from good.

So many questions filled his head, he looked up this 'Kylie Shepard' character but by the time that he did, she had mysteriously disappeared from the system altogether.

And he wasn't about to ask Tim or Abby to hack into the system for him.

No, this would not be a case for anyone else but him.

It would be in-house and for his eyes only.

If only, he knew that someone else had the exact same idea.

* * *

><p><em><strong>24 HOURS AGO<strong>_

"Kel," Sighed Jenny as she placed her hands in front of her, interlacing her fingers as she walked closer to her, whilst surveying the situation that lay out in front of her.

Her daughter was crouched in the foetal position on the floor, clutching a photo of her father.

Jenny shook her head slightly, full of remorse.

Things had been harder as of late and it had hit her daughter a hell of a lot more than said person would care to admit.

This made Jenny's lips twitch upwards for a brief moment.

She is so much like her father, she couldn't help but think.

Jenny's eyebrows knitted together in deep thought.

"I can feel you staring." Mumbled Kelly unhappily

Jenny knelt down next to her daughter, placing a hand upon her shoulder as she met Kelly's tear-stricken eyes.

"I know that this has been hard for you." Started Jenny but Kelly wouldn't hear a bar of it.

"No, mom. I miss him, I miss daddy." Said Kelly and it hit Jenny like a tonne of bricks, she hadn't heard her talk like that since Jethro was away as a marine.

It was showing her daughter's vulnerable side, something that she didn't let show often.

The last time that she had been like this was when Jethro was in the explosion and they both had thought the worst.

It had been a solid six months since then.

"I know you do, baby girl." Was the only thing that she said in response to her daughter's pain, she couldn't bring herself to say anything else to ease it.

"I want to tell him that I'm alive so bad." Said Kelly as a sob escaped her making Jenny feel at fault.

Hell, she knew she was.

But in her defence, it was an attempt to keep everyone safe and the threat was still out there.

"You can't, Kelly, we need to keep him safe, I need to keep you safe." Jenny explained

"You mean, keep you safe." Kelly muttered under her breath

Jenny's hand fell to her own side; Kelly looked up at her through watery eyes.

"You know what I mean, I need to keep our family safe." Said a stern Jenny

"When are you going to tell him that we're alive?" asked Kelly quietly

"One day." She promised, but it had been the same answer for fifteen years.

Kelly no longer believed her mother's words and believed that she had to take matters into her own hands now.

No matter what the cost was.

* * *

><p>Abby was typing away at her computer when Jenny walked into the lab.<p>

"Hey Abs." She greeted her

"Director." Said Abby as she kept typing

Walking over to one of the main benches in her lab, Jenny noticed something that she hadn't seen in years only it was a slight difference, the red lipstick.

Placing on a pair of latex gloves, "Abby," the older woman began as she picked up the photo frame, turning towards the Gothic Forensic Scientist, "How did this get here?"

The look radiating off of the red-head could have been easily mistaken as a classic trademark Gibbs glare.

"Um..." answered Abby as she turned away to look at her boss and not her computer, "I can't tell you because Gibbs swore me to secrecy when he brought that in and asked me to run it for prints."

Placing the object down and tearing off the gloves from her hands and throwing them into the closest trash can.

"Any other secrets that you can't tell me?" Jenny asked as she walked up closer to the younger woman

"No, just that one. Because, when Gibbs said that there wasn't an AFIS match and then tried to hide the results from me, he actually didn't swear me to secrecy so that is not a secret." Rambled Abby

"Who was the match?" Asked Jenny sternly

"Your sister, aka, your daughter." Abby shot back smartly

"What are you talking about, Abs? I don't have a daughter, I only have a sister." Lied Jenny, her right eye twitched, only slightly

Abby pressed a button on a nearby remote, which sent the door to her lab shut, sealing them in effectively.

"According to AFIS, Kylie Shepard is also Kelly Gibbs, which means, that she is alive and that you are Shannon." Said Abby angrily

Jenny laughed, "I think you've made a mistake, Abby."

"No," Abby persisted as she brought up a new screen on her computer, "This is a ten-point match, and these are new prints. There is no way that Kelly is dead. You're Shannon; you've been lying to us the entire time. Jenny Shepard is Shannon Gibbs; you're Gibbs' first wife." Said Abby shocked at her own realisation

"You do not breathe a word of this to anyone; delete Kylie Shepard with no evidence of her being alive. Welcome aboard operation Lodestone." Said Jenny without leaving Abby time to get a word in

"Operation Lodestone? You mean the arms-dealing bribe case?" asked a confused Abby

"No, that's just the cover. This goes way beyond the government." Explained the red-head

"Why can't you tell Gibbs that you're alive?" asked Abby

"So he isn't in danger." Said Jenny before leaving the lab without another word.

* * *

><p>The case had been as simply as a case closed, the killer had been incredibly sloppy; it was an easy find now that they all had a mobile AFIS and the killer had gone about daily life.<p>

The guy cracked within a few hours of interrogation and admitted everything, not that Gibbs cared for once in his life, and he had a new objective at the moment.

And he wouldn't stop until he found out the truth.

On Gibbs' way through the Squad Room he saw McGee at Ziva's desk, working away at something or a rather, he nodded to him, a small acknowledgement to his younger agent.

Tony had gone on a coffee run and Ziva went down to visit Autopsy.

Up on the plasma was a face that he hadn't seen in years.

"Who's this?" he asked McGee

"It's uh... The Director's father, Jasper Shepard." Answered McGee as Gibbs walked closer to the screen, not being able to tear his eyes away from it

_Lie._

How could that be Jenny's father?

That was Shannon's father, but he died before Kelly was born.

"You don't know him?" McGee spoke

Gibbs shook his head, not knowing what to think.

"She never talked family." Replied Gibbs, the reason why was apparent to his eyes

"It's like you." McGee thought aloud

"She has his eyes." Said Gibbs, turning around, his mind was in overdrive, "Is he still alive?"

But he had to know.

McGee typed something quickly on the keyboard.

"Deceased." He finally said after a minute

Gibbs turned back and re-examined the photo, it was without a doubt whom he thought he was.

"Suicide." Added McGee as an afterthought, "Twelve years ago."

No, that wasn't possible

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Dun dun dun. I smell trouble brewing, so what is the 'real' Operation Lodestone? What will Jenny (Shannon) do now that she knows that her daughter is sending a message to her father? What will happen now that someone else knows the big secret? What the heck is going on with Tony? And just how far is Gibbs willing to go this time to find out the truth? Thoughts? ;) x<strong>


End file.
